The Loyal One
by Lex55
Summary: Buffy and Xander reconnect after its been 5 years since the collapse of Sunnydale.


Title: The Loyal One.

Author: Lexie

Rating: Er…nothing too bad I don't think. Nothing worst than the show... in fact considering season 6 this is childs play.

Feedback: Yeah, like I would ever say no to that! Of course, send it over!

Summery: Some old friends reconnect after it's been five years since the collapse of Sunnydale.

Disclaimer: Much thanks goes to Shawn for being a beta. I do not own anything from BtVS, it's all owned by JW, ME and Fox. I'm just borrowing their slightly tattered and abused toys and fixing them up a little for my own liking.

Author's note: With all the recent news of the season 8 comics it made me realize how much I really do miss Buffy and Xander. So I wanted to reconnect with these old friends again, much in the way the two characters do in this fic. It's been 10 years since Buffy started. That in itself boggles my mind. Anyways, here's a one shot. It's not much but I thought I would share it anyways. Hope you enjoy!

Buffy peered up at the full moon and admired the soft light the bright sphere casted over the land. The grey steely illumination gave off just enough light for her to see her surroundings. She was always drawn to the darkness. Even as a little girl she found dark nights to be calming and enthralling instead of eerie and chilling like most children.

She was never afraid of going outside at night by herself and never afraid to hide in the darkest place in games of hide and seek which made her the reigning champ on her block. Sometimes at night when her Mom and Dad were safely asleep in their beds, she would sneak out the back door and just stand in the darkness of her backyard. She never left the backyard, not out of fear of what some imaginary monster might do but out of fear of what her mother would do if she found out she was out of her bed and outside alone. So she would stand alone in the middle of her yard just listening to the night sounds. When she thinks about those nights now she realizes how incredibly stupid she was for sneaking out in such a dangerous world, but she never quite could figure out if that was her slayerness calling out to her at an early age or if she truly was just attracted to the darkness.

She was currently walking alone through the garden in the back of the New Council's compound. It was called the Hero's Garden and it was a place for remembrance of those who had perished for the cause. It was a beautiful park filled with many different types of trees from all over the world. Flowers gave the garden a beautiful color all year round. And walking paths and sitting areas all through out made the small park a serene place to come and relax. It was normally closed at night but Buffy came out sometimes to get away from the hustle and bustle of the New Council. It was a good place to come and clear her mind or to wind down after a big fight.

The New Council had been full of life the last couple of days due to the first annual Council Federation Conference held there. Watchers and Slayers from all over the world were currently taking up residence in the massive facility. Giles had arranged a weekend filled with speakers, conferences, and bunch of other boring events that Buffy had no interest in.

Sighing, she followed the stone pathway in front of her. When she snuck in through the front gates, she knew where she was headed without even giving it a second thought. She had found herself there so many times over the last year that she could probably walk there with her eyes closed. It was a special spot in one of the far corners of the park that was succluded from the rest of the memorial garden. A small stone monument labeled it Sunnydale. A place for all the memories left behind.

Even though the small section was in no way comparable to her old stomping ground, it still comforted her when she came there. It gave her a sense of home in a strange way. They had all dedicated trees in the memory of someone special that had been lost in Sunnydale along the way.

She was heading for her favorite spot in the garden, Joyce's Tree. It was a huge old oak tree that was hundreds of years old and was the only tree in the park that was there when they started designing the park. They designed the park around the tree's strong and steadfast nature. The tree towered over all of the other trees in the park and its strong branches reached out to create a beautiful umbrella of leaves. She had spent many nights sitting under that tree reminiscing of the past. A past she had carefully filed away as 'to painful to think about'. It was easier for her to push all those memories of Sunnydale away than to deal with them. She wasn't sure which memories were more painful, the good ones or the bad ones.

The past few years she had been very careful about not thinking of Sunnydale and of all the things she left behind. She had trained herself to ignore the memories, the guilt, the pain, and the lost love. But somehow she always found herself in the part of the park that was named after the place she was so desperately trying to forget. A place where the memories refused to be pushed aside and demanded every bit of her attention.

It had been almost six years since she last saw her Mom. Six long, tiring years. Sometimes it had felt like a lifetime ago and at other times she could still hear her voice so clear in her head it was as if she had just spoken with her yesterday. It boggled her mind at how tricky time could be.

It had also been a couple of years since she last spoken with either Willow or Xander. That realization always took her breath away. Somehow the time had slipped between their fingers and their tight-nit friendship had gone with it. It wasn't an intentional choice, of course, it just happened. Just like life.

In the beginning, they all acted their part and communicated with each other during videoconferences and emails. But with her busy life in Rome, and Willow's retreat away with Kennedy, and Xander's mission in Africa it all became extremely too easy to let things slide. Phone calls dwindled, post cards stopped coming, and before she knew it, four years had sailed by.

Sometimes, when Giles wasn't in his office she would sneak into his desk and look them both up in his personal files. Unbeknownst to the New Council, Giles had a special hidden drawer for his personal files. Three plain brown folders labeled 'Family'.

She had accidently walked in on him one day when he had the contents of the drawer sprawled out across his desk, he quickly disposed of the contents when she made her presence known. When she questioned him on why he was being all 007 with some files he answered back that there were some things that he liked being on top of with out the councils help. She accepted his answer at the time but later on curiosity got the best of her and she snuck into his office to investigate the mysterious files. What she found was what she had already assumed was inside those plain folders.

Willow was hopping between alternate worlds these days, gaining support from different life forms of whole different universes. She and Kennedy had broken up a few months after Sunnydale. Kennedy was back in the states working in the Boston office. Willow spent a year in South America studying about her new higher powers in magic. The first time she jumped worlds, she was gone for a month with out contact. Now she spends up to six months at a time in different universes.

She was currently in some universe she couldn't even begin to pronounce and had been there for almost four months.

After Sunnydale, Buffy had taken a year off. She toured Europe for a little while before ending up in Rome for the rest of the year. It was a different lifestyle for her. One long party with a man she met there. An Immortal. For her it was her own version of escape from the universe. An escape from Sunnydale, her calling, her friends, and her responsibilities.

She sometimes wondered if her and Willow had that escape theme in common.

However, even during her year off she still couldn't control her slayer urges. Some nights she still felt the calling ringing strong, she would sneak out of her apartment and leave the Immortal behind to patrol the streets of Rome. After a visit with Giles one weekend, he made her an offer to come back to England to help train the girls at the school. Her folder in Giles desk had details about both her time in Rome and her time back at the New Watcher's council. About the girls she was training and how much of a help she was being to them as their mentor. A few of her girls were now excelling as new slayers and she was pretty proud of that fact.

She was also amused that her watcher would keep folders on things such as her and Willow's personal lives. She read a section in Willow's file about a woman she had spent time with in South America and how they had a house on the beach and spent many of their days lying on the shore getting in touch with mother nature. She could never imagine Giles as the gossiping kind but she knew that he was just trying to keep in touch with his children as best as he could.

Xander's folder was surprisingly sparse though. He was still in Africa. The folder had a few accounts about potential slayers that he was investigating and a few reports about the demon life there. But other than that his folder was bare. She once asked Giles what the long lost Scooby was up to and the older man had shrugged it off and mumbled a 'who bloody knows'. She never asked about him again but that didn't stop her from wondering about her old friend. What he was doing down there? Was he finding many slayers? Did he deserve a special section for his own personal life? Was he okay? Was he happy? Did he think of her as much as she had thought of him? So many questions she wanted to search the folder for but she always found the folder staring back up at her with bare answers.

She finally found herself getting close to the beautiful oak tree that was named after her mom. It was a beautiful cold night to be out there. The sky was clear and she could see thousands of stars. If she looked behind her she would be able to see the lights from the Convention Hall through the trees. Everyone else was partying it up at the ball the council was throwing for the watcher and slayers. It was a time for celebration because the Council had been up and running now for five years. They had thousands of slayers and watchers as well as other councils all over the world. To put it short, their little scooby gang had exploded into a very successful empire. She should be up there, celebrating with the rest of them. But somehow she just didn't feel up to it. She never understood why taking away the innocence from young girls was such an event to celebrate. In a way she almost hated the New Council. It took away so much from the people who worked for it. Took them away from their friends and family and placed them as far away as they could be from their home. Unfortunately, sometimes it also took their lives. And sometimes it simply broke people. There were some who couldn't handle the pressures the job entitled but instead of a normal job where you can quit when things get stressful, this one sent you packing to the nearest "refuge" with padded walls. It was funny how easily it was to forget about all the downsides that the New Council had seen in its first five years during all of the festivities thrown for the Council Federation Conference. There was no celebrating for those who were lost or gone.

Buffy sighed and considered turning around before she even got to her mother's spot so she could go tell Giles she was tired. But she wasn't sure what she meant by that. Tired from all of the events of the day. Or tired of her life now.

She was about to turn around when she heard a sound coming from the section in front of her. She thought she was alone out there. She was sure she didn't see anyone when she came in and the park closed at dark so she was always use to being there alone at night. She hoped it wasn't someone or some thing trying to crash the party to create death and destruction while the council was in party mode. Giles made a big speech about how the Conference was magically protected from outside forces at the beginning of the convention. So she just assumed they were safe.

Buffy carefully made her way off the pathway and quietly made her way through the new pine tree's and bushes that was in Tara's section. The moment she heard the noise she went into slayer mode. It was second nature to her and going from a leisure walk to all out stealth mode was easy for her. Her movements were as silent as the night. She quietly made her way to the small clearing in front of her. She was familiar with the area of course so she knew what the area would like when she got there.

As she silently pulled back a few branches from a tree she was over looking her Mother's section in the park. The oak tree with its towering branches casted shadows across the portion dedicated to her mom. The shadows made it a bit more difficult to find her target but after scanning the shadows she made out a silhouette. It looked human. She wondered if a vampire would be stupid enough to crash a party full of intoxicated slayers and watchers. In theory it might be a good idea, but exciting the inebriated minds of restless slayers would be a good way to get yourself dusted during a rousing game of torture the bloodsucker.

From her vantage point above the area she couldn't make out the features of the silhouette so she decided to get a closer look. She was standing on an incline so she started to make her way down but all the pine straw on the ground was making it a difficult task. She darted from tree to tree as she made her way closer. As she got closer she could see that the figure was a man's physique. As she was leaning out behind a tree to take a better look, the branch she was putting her weight on broke but she caught herself before falling forward and down the hill. She quickly scurried behind the tree and carefully look around the tree to see if the figure heard her. She saw the shadow move and could tell it was facing her now. She held her breath and pulled herself back behind the tree.

She made a mental note to do some training with Giles when the conference was over. Apparently her stealth skills were a bit rusty. She tried to hone in her slayer hearing to see if she could hear foot steps coming her way. When she didn't hear any and she carefully poked around the tree again. The figure was gone. She scanned the area once more but now the figure was no where to be seen. It had disappeared. She took a side step from the tree to get a better look but from what she could tell it looked like she had scared it off.

"Gotta say, not you're stealthiest entrance."

Buffy yelped at the sudden voice behind her and with out thinking went into attack mode by grabbing at the voice. In the process though, she lost her footing and she went tumbling down the hill with the new voice rolling with her along the way.

On her way down they both grunted and tried to grab the nearest thing to balance themselves, but between fighting with intertwined arms and legs and hitting branches and stumps along the way, finding their footing again was a lost. As they finally rolled to the bottom of the hill Buffy found herself on top with the figured pined face down on the ground. It had been sheer luck that she ended up on top but she wasn't about to let the lucky moment go to waist as she spun the figure around and prepared herself to pummel the creature into oblivion for embarrassing her so. She had the status of head slayer reputation to uphold after all.

With out thinking she struck out at the creature beneath her but he quickly brought one of his arms up and caught her fist before it could strike his face. She looked at her fist in his hand and it was then that she took a glance at the face beneath their joined hands. The first thing she noticed was the dark thick beard the creature had. Her eyes made it's way up and stopped on a familiar looking eye patch. She felt her breath catch in her throat and she turned her eyes to look at the adjoining eye and saw something she hadn't seen in years. An even more familiar warm brown eye shining up at her. She wasn't breathing now.

"You were always one to knock me off my feet at first glance," he smiled up at her.

Buffy quickly scrambled off of him and scooted away as if there was a ghost in front of her.

He slowly sat up and rubbed his neck.

"And again I gotta say, 'never figured you as a screamer either."

Buffy looked at the familiar stranger in front of her. She watched him as he stood up and brushed some of the dirt off his clothes. She briefly wondered why since his clothes looked pretty dirty to begin with. An old pair of stained kakis with a dirty wife beater underneath a faded kaki colored button up shirt that was rolled up at his elbows didn't exactly scream fresh and clean. His hair was long and fell all around his face. His thick beard covered up the features that were so familiar to her. But the eye. She would know it anywhere.

"Xand?" She creaked out.

The male scooby stopped brushing his shirt off and looked down at her with a raised eye brow.

"I know its been a while but don't tell me you forgot what I looked like already?"

"Well when you look like a yeti, I tend to be thrown."

Xander smiled down at his friend on the ground and reached his hand out for her to take. She looked at his extended offer and smiled up at him and launched herself at him. She tackled him back to the ground with her hug.

Xander landed on the ground with a grunt.

"For a long lost friend, you sure seem to be determined to bruise me up," Xander grunted out around her hug.

Her hug didn't let up.

"Shut up," she sniffed out while enjoying lying there on the ground with her friend as he wrapped his larger arms around her to return the hug.

After a while, she sat up and looked back down at his face. She placed her hands on either side of his face as if to make sure he was real. She felt his beard bristle her soft hand.

"What?...How?...Wha.." She rambled, smiling down at him.

He lifted his hand and placed it on top of hers and rubbed their joined hands across his rough face.

"Is this Buffy Anne Summers speechless?" He asked, smiling.

"You can say that again!" She said, incredulously.

"If I had known this would have been the reaction to my return I would have come back along time ago," he teased, as he sat up bringing her up with him.

Buffy felt herself blush and hoped it was too dark for Xander to see. She let her hands fall away and scooted back but kept close enough to feel his warmth.

As they both sat in front of each other they took each other in.

"Hi," Xander said, knowing she was still reeling from his sudden appearance.

He smiled at her and she could see his white teeth gleaming in the dark. That smile was the second most recognizable thing to her.

Buffy smiled back. "Hi."

"It's been a while."

"Yeah I would say so. Enough for you to grow a bush on your face."

Xander rubbed his beard with his hand. "No likey?"

"Oh no...it's... different. Very un-Xander-like from the last time I saw you."

"Razor's are a little hard to come by down there sometimes and it's just easier to let it go, I guess."

Buffy nodded her understanding.

"I'm not the only one who looks all different and unfamiliar," he pointed out by tucking a dark strand of hair behind her ear.

Buffy felt her blush rise once more and Xander let his hand drop away.

"Yeah, well blondes can't have the fun all the time."

This time it was Xander nodding his understanding.

"So..." Buffy said.

"So..." Xander replied back.

"How have you been?"

"What have you been up too?"

They both said in unison and smiled at the flub.

"Ladies first."

"What have you been up too?"

"Oh, not much. Skirting around the dark country, finding slayers, creating relations with the demon world, fighting against world hunger and for world peace...you know the usual."

"Oh... nice," Buffy replied, not exactly knowing what to say.

"You?"

"About the same...except less with the fighting against hunger and world peace."

"Ah, I dunno, Buff. I've seen what happens when a bunch of teenage slayers all get on the same cycle. You'd be fighting for both then, dontcha think?"

Buffy laughed. "Yeah I guess you could say that."

"So how have things been in the world of Buffy?"

"Oh okay, I guess. I've been here for the last year or so training girls. That's been pretty nice."

"Yeah, I heard. In Africa, I ran into one of your girls in Cairo. I could tell she trained under you and I was impressed."

"Really? How could you tell she trained under me?"

"Cause she wasn't dead yet," He said, simply.

"Oh. Well that's nice, I think," She responded, a little unsure. "Which girl was it?"

"Callie... something or other. Was Hispanic decent, had blue hair, kinda sassy. Definitely Buffy's touch."

"Ahh yes, Callie-the-rude-blue-killing-machine. She was in Africa with you?"

"Well, not really. She was doing some research on some old tombs, I was tracking down this drug lord who was using the tombs as a hide out. Our paths crossed," Xander said offhandedly, looking down while picking grass off his shirt.

"Oh," She said, offhandedly but then thought about the rest of the sentence. "Wait. DRUG LORDS??"

Xander's head slowly rose. "Uh... well just the one," he said, sheepishly but then added quickly. "But yeah, anyways, so how do you like working for Giles again?"

"Oh no no no. You're not getting away with it that easily. Again I say pointedly, Drug Lords??"

"What if I said I had presents? Would that be enough to change the subject?" Xander asked, hoping.

Buffy narrowed her eyes at him and saw that he looked uncomfortable with the subject. So she decided to drop it, for now.

"There's presents?"

Xander smiled gratefully at her. He jumped up and extended a hand for her to take once again. This time she accepted the offer and he pulled her up.

"You didn't think I could travel across the world and not bring back pressies, did ya?"

"Considering you traveled across the world four years ago and suddenly popped up out of no where, I would say that would be the least unexpected event so far this night."

"Speaking of traveling, how was Rome?"

Buffy grumbled under her breath but then reluctantly added again, "There's presents?"

"Right. Moving on."

Xander started towards the area he was standing before he heard Buffy watching him from above. He turned and motion for the blonde slayer to follow him.

"So what brings this new rouge, drug lord busting, African adventure Xander to the boring old New Watchers Council?"

"Well I heard there was a big shindig going down and you know I'm all about some free drinks and snacks."

"Ah, well its good to know some things never change," Buffy smiled while she followed him. She noticed they were both heading to a familiar place. She took a deep breath and inhaled the sweet scent of moonflowers, which she requested along with her mom's favorite flower, geraniums, to be planted in her section. The mixture of their fragrances always calmed her and tonight was no exception. She looked ahead at the man she hardly recognized but was still unmistakingly her best friend.

"So about this boring old New Watcher's council, hows Giles? Still elbows deep in apocalypses and thousands year old books and loving every minute of it?" Xander turned and asked over his shoulder.

"Yup, there's some things that will never change. Although he is seeing some lady from the antiquity tomes of the new library."

"Really? So the old G-man has game, huh? And with another liberian nonetheless. I betcha they have sex on top of old dusty books."

Buffy giggled and scrunched up her nose. "Eww, okay, you've hardly been here for five minutes and you're already sending me to weird and scary visual places."

She heard her friend chuckle and she smiled at the sound that she had yearned to hear for so long.

"I hear Willow is off being our special little space cadet," He asked coming up to the bench under Joyce's Tree.

He motioned for Buffy to sit down and he followed suit and sat beside her.

"Yeah, I think now she's in Achowanzality."

"Kazoontite," he teased.

"Yeah, I know. The places she visits usually keep me tongued tied, which keeps Giles in mispronouncement hell. But she seems to be really happy doing it, so I guess it works for me."

"Nice," he nodded. "And Dawnie."

"She's back in the States actually, working on her masters in Communications. She's in the top of her class in fact."

"Wow, I bet she's a force to be recognized with."

"Oh yeah, she's all smart and growny now," Buffy said, a little sadly. Before she knew it Xander reached over to put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer as he put his chin on top of her head.

"And how much taller than you is she now?"

"Four damn inches," she sniffed, tucking her head under his chin more. She felt the vibration of his laugh in his chest. "You should see the heels I have wear when she comes to visit. Dawn calls them weapons of mass destruction."

"Hate I missed out on seeing those," He grinned down at her, letting her go.

"Okay, what about these pressies?" Buffy asked holding out her arms and grabbing air.

"Oh, right. How bad of me to keep my lady waiting," He said, getting up and grabbing his old army sack sitting at the oak tree's base and bringing back around to the bench she was sitting at.

She watched him as he rummaged through his sack that looked like it had seen its better days. She remembered the sack from Sunnydale, she had been with him when he found it at a thrift store. At the time she couldn't figure out why he would want such an old tattered green army bag, she always figured he was just going through his army phase. But now she realized that he bought it in case he ever needed to pack quickly and needed an efficient enough room to hold his necessities. It was probably a fortunate buy for him considering all his traveling around Africa.

"You know, you didn't have to do this. With the giving of presents I mean."

Xander looked up at her, "Oh, well if you don't want yours I'm sure Dawn..."

"No no! I said you didn't have to do it, not that I didn't want it! So 'gimme!" She said, smiling and holding out her hands again.

"That's what I thought," he said pulling out a small metal box. "Okay, I know its not much, but when I saw these things at this market place in this little village near Nigeria, I thought of you so...well here you go."

She took the small box from his hands and admire the rustic beauty that the box radiated. It was an octagon shape silver jewelry box. The silver was stained a rustic color that made the metal stand out with a beautiful shade of red. The top had hand crafted decorative lines that formed what looked like a star fish from above with a beautiful black stone adorned in the middle. Each side was graced with symbols that she had no clue on their meanings,but they were exquisite to look at.

"Xand," She whispered looking up at him. She was about to continue on when he interrupted her.

"Keep going," he prompted.

She opened the lid carefully and saw a beaded neckless laying inside. She attentively pulled the jewelry out of it's confines. The glass beads lining the neckless were a smooth arrangement of colors from browns and blacks to whites and grays. At the end of the neckless was a small triangular shape silver pendent with a circle hovering over its top point.

Buffy looked up at her friend and shook her head in amazement, words failing her at the moment.

"Again with the speechless-ness, huh?" He gave her a lop-sided grin. "It's a Tureg Agadez Cross neckless. The beads are suppose to represent light, I just thought you might need a little light with all the dark nights this job entails. And the cross means something like, 'no matter where you go, god and I shall always be with you and protect you.' Or at least that's what the guy who sold them to me said, for all we know it could mean 'big flashy pendent for big tourist-y loser, who buys them.' Anyways, like I said, their not much but I couldn't help but think of you when I saw them but if you don't..."

"They're perfect, Xand," She said, smiling and leaning in to hug him. "Gorgeous, in fact."

"Speaking of which, this place turned out to be gorgeous," he said looking around at the arrangement of flowers and bushes around them.

"That's right, you high tailed it to Africa before the Hero's Garden was even finished."

"While I wouldn't call it 'high tailed it', I did leave before construction on this place was finished. I was just in Anya's section and it was...wow. And green, very very green."

"Yeah, we figured she would like lots of plants with greenery since it was her favorite color. Did you see the bonsai tree? It's suppose to mean prosperity, so we figured she would like that."

"That would be my little money lovin' vixen. And Joyce's tree...it's again, wow."

"Mmm hmm," she nodded looking at the beautiful old tree behind them. "It's what the park was designed around. It's strong and beautiful and enduring."

"Like you're Mom."

Buffy smiled sadly. "Like my Mom."

They sat in silence for a long while enjoying the serenity that the park's atmosphere offered.

After a while, Buffy bent down and picked a purple flower from the base of the tree.

"Here, I know its no meaningful hand crafted art work, but its a moonflower. I always noticed how in cemeteries people left their loved ones flowers that bloomed in the day, but what about night? Don't they deserve something beautiful at night, too? So I asked for these to be planted out here for my mom so she and I both could could enjoy the flowers at night too. And now you too can enjoy flowers at night."

Xander took the small flower from her hand and examined it.

"Neat," he said as he placed the flower in the breast pocket of his shirt. "I think you're mom would have liked her moonflowers."

"I think so too," she said.

"Oh, hey I have one more gift for you."

"Another one? Xander, I'm all about presents but I'm starting to feel a little inadequate in the friend department."

"Well, this one isn't really a present...more like a reunion," the male scooby said while rummaging in his bag again.

"Huh?" Buffy said, confused.

When he pulled the object out of his bag Buffy's eyes went wide and she gasped.

"Mr. Gordo?!" Buffy beamed grabbing the stuffed pig and pulled it close to her chest. "How...? I thought he was a goner, lost with the rest of my stuff back at the bottom of Sunnydale."

"Remember right before we took our last battle in Sunnydale, we all started packing like crazy just in case something bad happened and we had to flee? Well, since I was mostly living at your house at the end there, I was packing at your place and the day we left for battle I grabbed my trusty army bag and as I was about to head out the door, I saw Mr. Gordo, here. He convinced me of how much he meant to you and pleaded for his little piggy life. So I grabbed him up and stuffed him in my bag. I meant to give him to you after the big battle but after everything..with Anya and Sunnydale imploding and traveling around in that damn cramped school bus... well I forgot."

"I can't believe you saved Mr. Gordo," She said still clinging to the stuffed animal as if her life depended on him.

"And so Mr. Gordo became a world traveler. I didn't even remember I still had him until I was in Africa. And I thought he was a little too much of special cargo to risk the chance of being lost in the trusty mail system out of Africa so I carried him around everywhere I went. And I gotta say, Mr. Gordo caused me quite a few odd looks at a few customs checks. Nothing like caring around a pink stuffed pig to help out my big burly man image," he said, puffing his chest out.

"Aww, so you kept up with him the whole time while you were in Africa?"

"Yup, Mr. Gordo and I toughed it out together."

Buffy smiled and hugged the pig to her chest more, she bent her head down to smell the old friend. She quickly pulled it back up again, "Woah, is that why he reeks??"

Xander laughed, "I wasn't exactly staying at five star hotels down there, Buff. Besides now he is a rogue boar, all weathered and tough from the adventures in the Dark country! And after saying all that, you might want to send Mr. Gordo, the newly refined boar, for a little ride in the spin cycle in the nearest washing machine."

Buffy laughed out. Afterwards she sighed, "God, I've missed you."

Xander smiled and nodded, "Mr. Gordo and I missed you too. I know he told me so. In fact, he wouldn't stop babbling about the fact the whole time we were down there."

Buffy smiled and scooted a little closure to her friend on the bench. Once she was right by his side, she laid her head on his shoulder. They once again fell into silence as they both sat there enjoying each others company once again. They were both staring up at the bright stars above them when Xander interrupted the comfortable silence.

"Buff? When you went to heaven, what was it like?"

This question surprised the blonde slayer as she sat up to look at him. She noticed that he was still looking up at the constellations above so she sat back and looked above at the heavens that Xander was suddenly so enthralled in.

"It was... different. Not what I ever pictured when I was younger. I always pictured golden streets and big pearly gates and people floating by on clouds. It was... I dunno...quiet. Peaceful. It was just there. There wasn't anything to worry about there, no calling, demons, apocalypses, or responsibilities. Just quietness."

Xander nodded while he kept his eyes directed at the sky. He didn't say anything else and Buffy thought he had accepted her answer to his the strange question.

"Think Anya is there?"

Buffy looked down from the stars and briefly looked at him before turning her attention to her hands to think about his question. "I dunno Xand. I don't know how those things work. I mean while I was there I didn't see my Mom or anything and I would have given anything to see her again so... I don't know. I'm not even sure why I was in the place that I was."

"I think maybe everyone gets there own personal heaven. Like maybe the quietness, that was just for you. What you needed, you know? That was special for you."

Buffy thought about this a moment and nodded her agreement as she turned her attention back to the millions of stars shining down at them. Finally, she added, "I like the quiet."

This time it was Xander's turn to look down in surprise. He looked at his friend with astonishment over her familiar words. He watched her for a moment as she was basked in the moonlight's grey steely light, to him she looked like an angel praying to the heavens above them. After a moment of considering her words he smiled and joined her again in the study of the stars.

"Besides, Anya's heaven is probably a little closure to your original idea of heaven with the golden streets and pearly gates and add in some of those money tree's except with actual money growing on them. She would be in money lovin' heaven."

Buffy smiled at his idea. "It's probably very shiny there."

She heard her friend laugh beside her and enjoyed the sound. They fell into comfortable silence once more. Just content on studying the stars above them.

Finally, Buffy looked back down and at her friend.

"Okay, Xander. Time to get serious. Just admit it."

The male scooby looked down at the blonde slayer with a confused expression.

"Just admit that you slept with Mr. Gordo while on your trip through Africa." She teased, smiling up at him.

Xander laughed hard at her accusation. "Damn, that little bastard pig squealed didn't he? That was suppose to be, what happens in Africa stays in Africa!"

Buffy was laughing with him now. "If you would like we could share custody of him. You know if you get lonely, I could ship him to you and let you have snuggling custody for a while."

"Thanks for the offer but I think he would much prefer to keep you as his snuggling partner. He's yours again to be by your side in all your adventures."

"If thats how you want it," she said. "But you know who else would be happy to see you again?"

"Who's that?"

"Giles! He's going to be ecstatic to see you home again. Although I will warn you he may get all Mr. Head Watcher on you and there may be some interrogation on your whereabouts coming your way. But over all I think he will be pretty happy to see you."

"Think so?"

"I know so. So come on let's go find him, I'll just drop by my room on the way and drop this stuff of on the way," she said, motioning to the presents he brought her from Africa and her stuffed friend.

"You know what, I think I wanna enjoy this place a little longer. So why don't you go put your stuff away and I'll meet up with you later."

Buffy knew he left for Africa before the garden was built so the place was probably special to him the way it was for her when she first visited. She spent hours there the first day she saw the place.

"Okay," she said, standing up."But you promise I'll see you later? I mean I've missed you long enough."

"Promise," he said, standing up to watch her go.

She looked at him as if she was trying to decide if she believed him or not.

"Hey, what's that look for? Have I ever broken a promise to you? Sure, it's mostly because I'm afraid you'll break me if I do, but still I'm good on my promises," He told her smiling.

"Right. The loyal one," She smiled up at him in agreement.

She turned to leave but before she did she stopped and turned back when he called out her name.

"Oh Buffy," He said, coming up to her and enveloping her in a tight hug.

She wrapped her arms around him and held him close. She felt him bend to down to whisper into her ear which gave her chill bumps.

"I like the quiet, too," he whispered.

She pulled back slightly and looked up at him. He was looking back down at her with a small smile on his face. She felt her hand reach up and cup his cheek. She once again felt his rough beard bristle her soft hand and she shivered from the sensation, Xander held on tighter. They were lost in a moment that neither had ever experienced with each other.

"I'll see you later, Buff." He whispered, breaking the moment.

Buffy felt herself blush as she stepped back and laughed nervously. "Right. Later."

She turned to leave and the male scooby watched her leave. She turned back once she got to the edge of her mother's section and saw that Xander was still watching her go. So she smiled and waved and he did the same back.

She closed the door to her room and turned to head down the hallway. She couldn't believe her friend was back. She didn't realize how much she missed him until she saw him standing there in front of her. She had been on the verge of depression until she saw him and then everything change. And for the short time sitting with him in her Mom's place, it was like old times again. Like they were truly back in Sunnydale instead of just sitting in an area designated that. She couldn't wait to spend more time with him either. She wanted to hear everything about his 'adventures' in africa. She was really worried about this drug lord adventure he had mention. It would be like Xander to get into the middle of something big and dangerous that he had no business being in just because it was the right thing to do. She was going to have to convince him other wise though, she didn't like the idea of him being down there all alone.

She hoped that he was here to stay for good. She would love that. But if it wasn't she understood, she did want to see him more though. She didn't want another four years to slip by with out seeing him again. Maybe she could go down there and visit him for a while. Make sure he was staying out of harms way of drug lords and the such. She would have to talk to Giles about it later. But first she had to find the older watcher to tell him about the sudden reappearance of their friend.

As she was heading down the hallway, the elevator doors opened up and Buffy held her breath hoping it was her long lost friend. When her watcher stepped out she felt a little foolish for wishing it was Xander but quickly pushed those ideas back.

"Buffy, good there you are. I've been looking everywhere for you," He said, rushing up to her.

"Oh, well that's funny I was just coming down to look for you. You will never guess who is in the garden right now."

"Buffy, that will have to wait, I'm afraid I have a bit of bad news."

"No no, no bad news tonight. Not after what happened tonight. So I'm just going to ignore what you just said and say again, you'll never guess who's in the garden right now," she said, starting to pass him on the way to the elevator.

"It's Xander."

She stopped and turned her head. "Okay, maybe you are good at this game," She mumbled shaking her head and started back towards the elevator.

"He's dead."

She stopped dead in her tracks. And felt her breath catch in her throat. Surely, she didn't just hear him right.

"What?" She asked, turning around confused and annoyed that the man was clearly confused himself.

The watcher swallowed back a lump he had been holding since he got the news. "I'm afraid he's gone, Buffy. He was..."

Buffy didn't let him finish his sentence before she interrupted him abruptly. "No, he's not Giles. This is crazy. I promise you he's not dead."

Giles sighed heavily and came up to the girl and put both hands on her shoulders.

"Buffy, I'm sorry. He is. You're slayer Callie called tonight and confirmed it, there was some kind of mission with a drug lord who was mixed up in the demon world and their was a complication and well Xander saved Callie's life... He's gone. She's on her way back with the body. I asked her to bring it here for the funeral. I'm so sorry..."

Buffy interrupted once more, "NO! That's impossible. What kind of sick joke is this?"

She stepped back and turned towards the elevator.

Giles let his hands fall from his grasps on her shoulders. He sighed heavily once more, "Buffy, I wish it weren't true. I would give anything for it not to be true."

Buffy ignored the pained tone from the man she considered a father as she impatiently waited for the elevator by repeatedly pushing its button over and over.

"Damn it, why the hell is this taking so long? Forget this, I'll show you he's not... He's just not!" She couldn't finish the sentence so instead turned and went to the door that led to the stairs and ran full speed down them taking three or four steps at a time.

She ran out of the building her room was located in and ran towards the garden. The last time she had ran this fast was the time Angelus set her up for the surprise attack on her friends in the library. She was so scared back then. She couldn't run fast enough then and the same was true now. As she jumped the gate that was at the entrance of the garden it had felt like she was flying. She ran past the lost slayers section of the garden and headed straight for Sunnydale. She was jumping bushes and running wildly through the trees and it all felt like she was going in slow motion. As she rounded the corner for Tara's section she realized she was now in the spot where she first saw him, so she scrambled down the hill again, slipping a few times on her way down but it didn't slow her down as she plowed ahead.

When she finally reached her mom's section of the park she skidded to a stop, breathing hard and looking around. There was nothing but the sound of her heavy breathing greeting her. She slowly walked towards the place she saw him standing last and couldn't fight the fear she felt rising inside of her. When she walked around the tree's huge base, she stopped before coming up to the bench they had shared just moments before. She closed her eyes and could still picture him sitting there and when she opened her eyes she hoped he would be doing the same again. But when she walked towards the bench and opened her eyes again all that was sitting there was a small white envelop.

She walked up to the envelop and picked it up with shaky hands. On the top was the words, "_For Mi' Lady_", scribbled in her best friend's hand writing.

_Buffy,_

_I know this has to top your cake of whacky hell-mouthy fun because it does for me too. But they gave me an offer of seeing you one more time and I couldn't pass that up. Sorry I didn't tell you while we were talking but I couldn't bare the idea of seeing Sad Buffy Face so I kept it to myself. A little selfish of me I know, but it was better this way. _

_I learned something important tonight though, I wasn't sure where I was going after this, those death guys aren't too clear because they're too busy being all vague and ominous, reminded me a lot like Angel except with much less hair-gel. Anyways, you helped me realize where I'm going. It's always where ever you are. It's always been that. I gave you that neckless for a reason. Always keep the light in your life and remember even if you can't hear my voice I'll be right beside you, always. And when it's your time to return to your heaven it won't be so quiet when you return, because I'll be here waiting for you. My heaven has always been you. It's as simple as that. So I'll be keeping my promise. I'm the loyal one, remember? _

_I love you. And I will see you later! ( My promise)_

_Love always and forever,_

_Xander_

_P.S. Be sure to keep Mr. Gordo warm at night, but watch him, he likes to be a bed hog. ;)_

_P.P.S. Only you and I can see this letter and the things I gave you tonight. That was the guidelines they gave me when I choose to come see you. Its unfair I know, I think I'll write them an invisible letter back expressing my disappointment. But you will always have them even if you can't show them off. _

Buffy let the letter fall away as tears streamed down her face. She felt her knees give away and she followed the paper to the ground where deep sobs racked her body. She let everything go. She cried for her best friend, for missing him for so long and the joy of seeing him again, she cried for missing her mom and sunnydale, and for missing her Sister who was half a world away, she cried because she wished Willow was there to experience this with her, but mostly she cried because even though she knew he would keep his promise and she would see him again one day, it would always be to long of a wait for her.

When she returned to the New Council's complex Giles was waiting for her.

"I've been worried. Where have you been?" He asked tentatively.

"The garden," she replied, sadly.

"Are you okay?"

She took a moment but finally answered with a small smile. "Yeah, I like the quiet."

The End.


End file.
